It would've actually been cool if they seriously made an effort to have Chakotay express his culture and spirituality in a believable way. Specifically name a tribe, don't just barrow cliche elements from the stereotype and put an effort into research.

It would be just as bad if they had a black man on there who practiced voodoo, played jazz, hunted lions and referenced working in the cotton fields.

The producers did have input from author Jamake Highwater, who presented 7 pages of research. Highwater had presented himself as of American Indian ancestry, though this was disputed by other Native Americans. Seems he was actually an Armenian named Jay Marks, who had been adopted by a Greek family. Highwater's critics called his works inauthentic, stereotypical, and claimed he got federal grant money illegally. (source: Wikipedia)